At first glance the Office for National Statistics monthly release can seem a somewhat contradictory mass of numbers–a characteristic that makes them a favorite of politicians who can twist them to illustrate almost any point.

It’s not unusual, for example, for the two main measures in the data–the Labour Force Survey and the claimant count–to be heading in opposite directions.

U.K. labor market data have also been the cause of much bafflement in the years since the financial crisis due to unemployment staying surprisingly benign relative to previous recessions, even though economic output collapsed. The situation has been dubbed the “productivity puzzle“–a conundrum that has left policy makers and academics scratching their heads.

Labor market data are also lagging indicators, meaning they reflect changes that have already happened in the economy.

Despite these puzzles and shortcomings, the BOE has said the data are the best measure of spare capacity–the extent to which the economy is operating below its full strength, resulting in unemployed workers and under-used factories–and are easily understood.

What are the main figures in the data release?
- The Labour Force Survey, also known as the International Labour Organization or ILO survey, is the largest household survey in the U.K. and provides the official, internationally comparable measures of employment and unemployment. The survey polls 45,000 households in Britain each month.

- Claimant Count: This measures the number of people claiming the unemployment benefit known as the Jobseeker’s Allowance. It differs from the LFS measure because many unemployed people in the U.K. are not eligible for or don’t claim Jobseeker’s Allowance. The claimant count is often described as being “more timely” than the LFS because it is a month more up-to-date.

- Wage growth: The data also measures wage growth, both regular earnings, which excludes bonus payments, and total pay, which includes them.

What is the key figure?
All eyes will be on the Labour Force Survey’s unemployment rate. The BOE has said its key interest rate will stay at the record low 0.5% until LFS unemployment rate has fallen to at least 7% (subject to various caveats relating to inflation and financial stability).

The wage growth figures are also closely watched because they illustrate how British household incomes are faring in relation to inflation. In recent years households have been squeezed as wages fail to keep pace with rises in the price of goods, leading to an erosion of spending power that is seen as one of the main threats to a sustainable economic recovery.

What are the latest figures?
- In the three months to May, the LFS recorded 2.51 million unemployed people, giving an unemployment rate of 7.8%.
- In three months to May, regular pay rose 1.0% and total pay rose 1.7%.
- The claimant count stood at 1.48 million in June, the lowest since March 2011.

The ILO unemployment rate has held steady at 7.8% for the past three months after moving steadily downwards from the recent peak of 8.4% at the end of 2011. The highest rate of unemployment was 10.7% in the three months to February 1993 since comparable records began in 1992.

What are the forecasts for the labor market?
The Office for Budget Responsibility (the government’s official forecast) expects the LFS unemployment rate to hit 7.9% this year, rising to 8.0% in 2014. The OBR forecasts it will then begin gradually declining, hitting to 7.9% in 2015, 7.4% in 2016 and finally going under the crucial 7% mark in 2017 when it will be 6.9%.

In last week’s inflation report, the BOE’s monetary policy committee said in its ‘best collective judgment’ the unemployment rate would be 7.3% by the third quarter of 2016.

How many jobs will need to be created for the unemployment rate to reach 7.0%?
BOE Governor Mark Carney last week said there would need to be “well over three quarters of a million new jobs” over the next three years for the unemployment rate to dip below 7%.

What other information is contained in the labor market data?
The labor market statistics provide all sorts of information that can gives clues to the state of the U.K. economy. The LFS provides a detailed breakdown of unemployment by age and gender, type of contract and even lists part-time workers who want more work than they have.
The latest survey showed that of the total 2.505 million unemployed people in the three months to May, 1.429 million were men and 1.077 million women.
After peaking at 826,000 at the end of 2011, the number or people aged between 18-24 without a job has fallen and was 763,000 in May.
And, of the 7.851 million part-time workers in the U.K., 1.446 million wanted a full-time job, while the remaining 5.167 million did not want full-time work.